The Devils Lake track and field season kept running last week into early this week, with meets on Friday and Monday. The boys and girls each placed seventh out of eight teams in the Sheyenne Invitational, then third out of four teams in the Fargo South Quad.
On Friday, star basketball player Wylee Delorme placed fifth out of 96 runners in the JV 200-meter dash. A fellow member of the championship basketball team, Oliver Wirth, placed second in the high jump with a state-qualifying mark of 6’2’’. A third basketball standout, Joel Nelson, was only slightly behind him in fourth place.
Four of the top eight finishers in the javelin were Firebirds: Drew Hofstad second, Brett Mertens fourth, Nelson fifth and Josh Deckert eighth. The Devils Lake boys also had top-eight finishes in the 4×400 relay, shot put and discus.
Their 47 total points put them in seventh place, ahead of Valley City’s 28 and behind Northern Cass’s 65. Sheyenne won with 147.
On the girls’ side, Bella Tangedal placed third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.33. Gabrielle McLaurin was sixth in the 800-meter, while Ella Wass was fourth in the 300-meter hurdles.
Two groups of Devils Lake girls placed top-four in relay events: McLaurin, Tangedal, Wass and Sara Kraft were third in the 4×200, while Tangedal, Kraft, Aubrie Lebrun and Wass came in fourth in the 4×400.
Kraft and Trinity Kus finished third and seventh, respectively, in the triple jump. Kraft also placed fourth in the long jump.
The girls had 39 points on the day, ahead of eighth-place Northern Cass’s 23.5 and behind Fargo North’s 60. Moorhead won the girls’ division with 139.5 points.
The track teams then went back out to Fargo on Monday for the Fargo South Quad. The weather conditions weren’t great with heavy winds, the team reported on Facebook, but they still had a handful of top-eight finishes amidst their third-place finish on both the boys’ and girls’ sides.
Tangedal placed third in the 200-meter and fourth in the 400-meter. Gabrielle McLaurin finished fifth in the 200-meter, and Aubrie Lebrun was sixth in the 400-meter. Tenley Triepke placed fifth in both the 800 and 1600. Two other Firebirds were top-eight in the 1600: Riley Schmiess was sixth, and Anna Ginther was seventh.
Four Devils Lake girls placed well in the hurdle events. Izzy Orness was third and Rachel Vaagen was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles, while Wass was fourth and Chaylee Hewson fifth in the 300-meter hurdles.
Devils Lake groups finished second in the 4×200 and 4×400 relays, and third in the 4×100.
The girls had numerous high placers in the javelin and jumping events as well. McLaurin came in first in the javelin, while Kraft placed first in the long jump. Kraft was also second in the triple jump.
The team had 137 points overall; Shanley was first with 202, Wahpeton second with 165 and Fargo South fourth with 107.
On the boys’ side, Delorme ran in the varsity 100-meter dash this time and came in 10th out of 43 runners. Wirth was 11th out of 35 in the 200, while Sobolik placed second in the 400. Five of the nine finishers in the 1600 were Firebirds, with Zane Bennett in third place.
Nelson won the shot put with a mark of 42’9’’. Braxton Rance finished fifth in the same event. There were 36 competitors in the shot put, a handful of whom were Firebirds.
Hofstad, meanwhile, won the javelin, while Brett Mertens came in third and Nelson placed fifth. Hofstad was also fourth in the long jump.
Wirth followed up his state-qualifying high jump on Friday with a high jump victory on Monday. He and Fargo South’s Chris Kambal each posted a mark of 5’10’’.
Tucker Bennett placed fifth out of 14 contestants in the 300-meter hurdles. Devils Lake had a quartet finish second in each of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays, and third in the 4×200.
The Devils Lake boys were third overall with 136 points; Fargo South came in first with 250, Shanley second with 154 and Wahpeton fourth with 86.
The next meet is on April 26.
